EA's Battlefield 3 for the PC Platform Reviewed

This past October we saw one of the biggest game releases of the year. Battlefield 3 has been a huge success for Electronic Arts, selling over 7 million copies in 30 days. After playing the game for almost three months on an array of differently equipped PCs I can safely say that BF3 has already established itself as the go-to multiplayer game for LANs and rainy nights for years to come. But the game is not without its shortcomings, and sadly most of those are linked to EA’s less-than-awesome Origin content delivery system and legendary lackluster user support. Along with a map pack that could leave buyers feeling like they might have drawn the short stick, will it be enough to knock BF3 of its throne? Well, the honeymoon period is over, so let's find out!

Still Lookin' Pretty

Since the public beta and my preview in October at GeForceLAN 6 not much has changed about BF3. The graphics still look great, the interface is slick and the Battlelog system (the browser-based matchmaking and server finding system) is innovative, if not a bit tedious on your first try. You may find yourself turning down the detail settings if your rig is more than two years old, but even with a mid range 2009 system, I was able to play at my monitor's resolution without having to turn off anti-aliasing or particle effects completely.

The game looks absolutely amazing on top tier hardware - the best visual experience to be had on a PC right now. A game like Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim may have great views, but that would be a bit like comparing a leisurely stroll in an alpine meadow with snowboarding off the top of a mountain peak - this game is extreme!

Single Player Action Doesn't Disappoint

Single player gameplay in BF3 takes a cue from the more dialogue-driven entries in the Battlefield franchise - Bad Company to be specific. Every other Battlefield game has been almost exclusively multiplayer so it's good to see the innovation at work in a storyline situation. The plot is somewhat predictable - your typical hostage/special ops/rescue kind of idea.

Throughout the game you end up playing a few different characters, something that's getting a little tired. Let's see a game that follows one character through a proper plot rather than a chopped up storyline that seeks to take us to five different kinds of locations and battle environments. A progressive, expansive game world like that of Half-Life or Half-Life 2 would be incredible if it were played in the realistic military setting of BF3.

At the end of the day BF3 does deliver some very authentic military combat situations, even if the "Follow" icon slows down the flow of gameplay.

Grab a Friend: Co-Op is Here

I'd be lying if I said that anyone out there was buying BF3 for its single player campaign alone. This game, like its predecessors, is all about multiplayer. And boy does it deliver!

Bridging the gap between single and multiplayer is a co-op mode. Grab a friend online and take part in a campaign of mini-missions that earn you unlocks for multiplayer use. And you'll need those unlocks to keep up with everyone else. A very well tuned rank and abilities system will keep you playing the game for months. Each class has unlockable weapons, gadgets and more. And when you level up, you'll unlock more abilities and uniforms than you can imagine.

Battlefield 2 tried (and failed) to implement a usable system like this long before games like Call of Duty made it standard, so I'm glad to see that BF3 was able to pull it off properly.

Multiplayer Madness is Back in a Big Way

There really is nothing like hopping online in to a 64-player map, getting in to the gunner position of a tank, and cruising toward the nearest capture point. Along with the unlocks (which give you some very useful vehicle upgrades, too) the mutiplayer mode of BF3 is unlike anything I've ever experienced in a first-person shooter.

Gameplay is almost identical to previous BF games, but about 1000% cooler - destructible terrain including buildings that fall down and mines that leave craters, jet combat that isn't impossible, and terrain that looks downright realistic are just some of the things you'll experience in-game. And yet when you switch away from the more classic Conquest mode to something like Squad Rush, the gameplay changes completely. Without vehicles or huge maps to hide in you can really hone your skills with a rifle or pistol, just make sure you watch those control points!

The Origin of the Species

Outside of gameplay, there's another part of BF3 on the PC worth talking about. Origin launched this year as a direct competitor to Valve's Steam and other content delivery systems. Since Electronic Arts is the world's largest video game publisher, we're going to have to get used to Origin. In fact, many users were angry that BF3 wasn't available on Steam.

A very back-handed and passive-agressive note on EA's forums seems to suggest that Valve is evil and that EA is the only company that knows this (anyone who's spent any time on Steam, or playing one of Valve's many awesome titles knows otherwise). Origin is a great system in itself, and our comparison of it and Steam really clears the room of that debate, but I can't help thinking that EA developed Origin just to spite Valve.

At the end of the day, gamers are caught in the cross-fire and now we have to split our gaming experience across two different content systems - maybe some day this lovers' quarrel will be over and everything can coexist.

About The Author

Spencer is the founder of LANcouver, a PC gaming event in Western Canada. From a very early age he showed a keen interest in computers, gadgets and technology - mostly learning about them through trial, error, and dis-assembly (much to his parents' dismay). Later in life he worked in the PC & Gaming industry and now calls film & television his career. Inevitably, he inherited his dad's love of cars and journalism, and now writes and shoots articles and videos on everything from electric cars to LANs for various online publications.
He promises to tweet more if you follow him at @teknokracy

My copy wasn't a limited edition so I had to purchase Back to Karkand pack. It didn't work - Origin and the main website were NOT communicating and it took several days before it was fixed. There were thousands upon thousands of players who were in the very same boat. This past week also caused thousands of players punkbuster issues saying it was a "subset of player accounts" that were effected. In other words, they had NO idea how many accounts were effected or didn't want to divulge the exact number. EA's recommendation was to play on non-PB servers. THAT was their best idea.

I wouldn't really call their user interface, innovative. It's extremely disconnected in that the COM CENTER will say you're in a battle, but the Friends Online on the right won't reflect it. Messaging someone is pointless as it gets pushed down the page quickly and almost never read. You can message them through the COM CENTER as well, but the same thing happens.

If I had to use a word that describes the BF3 user experience, it would be the word "disconnected" as it really is in all its grandeur.

http://twitter.com/Agryx Big Al

The game was released before it was finished and don't even start me on Origin. Why didnt they just use Steam, it was an already proven friends based engine that had millions on it. It worked with countless games, yet EA wanted their own. From day one I couldnt get it to work, I found out due to trail n error and no help from EA that it only worked on IE 9. EA/Dice was usless, thousands couldnt play it and got no help, they only found it from the community. They wonder why ppl play COD games, cos they dont get screwed and then shit on by being sold a beta game that doesnt even work properly, Origin is the worse piece of shit I've used and still dont ave any friends on it, nor will I ever want to use it again unless for BF3.

Ericgaray explained his BF3 experience in one word, mine would be "disconnected", I cant disagree at all hahaha

Mike Hardin

I dont know which machines he used to test this game, but I found nothing but problems and issues with it. I have received no help from EA games. I puchased this game on 12/24/2011, and still have not been able to play it. There are serveral issues from locking up the computer, to corrupting the DX drivers. My system is an ASUS Maximus supreme Z main board with and I7 2600K intel processor. I am running a ASUS GTX 5900 Video Card, which cost more than most laptops. Iam also running 16 mb of ripjaw ram. My OS is windows 7 64 bit. According to EA, my machine should run this game, BUT IT DOES NOT. I have wasted $75.00 for a game that all i can do is stare at the box with no hope of running it.

Anonymous

Is that the GTX 590 (you typed 5900)? This card has some specific issues that make it even more prone to bugs with games because it's a dual GPU card. Basically, it's doing SLI internally so if the game, like BF3, is buggy with SLI, it'll be likely worse because of the less conventional method employed by that card to do internal SLI. There are actually a number of BF3 threads that have that GPU singled out specifically (with some fixes that seem to work). Having said that, BF3 and Origin creates heaven or hell for gamers. Those that can play it love the game (hate Origin still). Those that can't play it are in hell and out $75.

We'll have Spencer include his system specs in the future but what he plays on is actually a modest Core i5 661 LGA1156 CPU with a GTX 460 768MB card.

http://www.tyleringram.com/ TylerIngram

I was playing BF3 until SWTOR came out.

BF3 bluescreens my Asus G51x randomly which I would attribute to nVidia drivers or something (ive tried beta and most recent etc) No other game I play on my Asus BSoDs on me.

I do like BF3 but I can see why people say it was built for a console. The controls on the PS3 are easier than that of the typical 1stPerson Shooter on a PC. Though I'm pretty good with flying helicopters now.

I just wish I could run BF3 at high+ mode as the graphics would look pretty crazy.

Origin is a PITA. I dont like how I have to exit the game if i need to switch servers etc.

Mike

Single Player Mode: Too linear. Too many cut-scenes. Not enough freedom. Story line was predictable and too close to other games (COD - MW comes to mind.) Ending is totally disappointing. Wasted $60 hard earned dollars on this pile of junk.